Thanks Sherry and Paige for being the most wonderful betas in the world!

BPOV:

With my head resting on the boat's railing, I watch the waves as Edward takes us out to sea. I watch the water, but my mind is somewhere else completely. It is focused on what I want to say to my husband. Our trip so far has been a silent one, and I wonder if he doesn't know what to say to me. His anger is obvious, and I can't tell where it is directed. Is he mad at me for interfering? Is he mad at the men for the situation they put him in? Or is he mad that their deaths are on his hands, as well as mine?

I turn to stare back at him, finding him just as tense as before as he drives the boat farther away from the shore. I wonder if I should try to comfort him, for today has been a difficult one for both of us. I get up from my seat at the bow of the boat and make my way toward him. He looks right through me, and I'm taken aback by his coldness.

"Don't look at me like that Bella," he tells me without a look in my direction, "You have no idea what you have started."

I stare at him for a moment, too shocked for words. He would be dead if I hadn't gone to help him. Maybe the idea of being rescued by his little wife is just too much for him to handle.

"Edward you would have been dead if it were not for me! Caius had a gun to your head! What was I supposed to do? To sit by and idly watch?"

Edward keeps a straight face and finally looks at me, "I had it under control," he tells me again.

"Stop lying to me! I had to do what I had to do! I had to save you Edward!" I ramble, unable to control myself. It isn't long before I'm a teary-eyed mess. I did what I had to do...didn't I?

Edward's face softens and he pulls me into his arms. I cry against the warm skin of his neck, needing to feel his body against mine. He holds me until my cries cease, and finally he pulls back to kiss my forehead.

"Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll take care of this, go on and take care of yourself."

I don't know if I'm ready to leave his side, but I also know that I won't be able to watch what he has to do next. Even though I watched the men die and took part in their deaths, I can't watch their bodies being thrown into the water, knowing they will never surface again.

"Come on, Bella. Go run a bath for yourself."

I leave him on the deck, and follow his advice. I strip out of my clothes and run the water until it is nice and warm. The clear water turns pink as soon as I lower myself into it. I can barely breathe as I begin to scrub my skin with a washcloth, trying to wash away the dried blood that clings to me. I scrub until the blood is gone and then I continue until my ivory skin is raw and irritated. It's a compulsion I can't seem to stop, but I feel so dirty. Tears fall from my eyes and into the murky crimson bath water.

"Sweetheart?"

With blurry vision, I see Edward rush toward me. He picks me up from the dirty water and into his arms. He grabs the cotton nightgown he had given me earlier, and carries me to the bed. I close my eyes and try to gain some sort of control over myself as Edward towels me down and dresses me. He joins me on the bed and wraps me in his arms.

"I know how hard this is for you," he says as he rubs my back, "It was hard for me at first as well. I was lucky to have my father there at the time."

"Edward," I begin with a shaky voice, "what on earth do you do? I thought you said you had a security firm at one time."

"I do," he shrugs his shoulders, "Bella, I don't know how much I can tell you. You're so young...so innocent. Your innocence is what had me taken with you from the moment I saw you. It was utterly disarming. You were unlike anyone I had ever met...you were good and I don't want to ruin you."

I feel tears trail down my cheeks. "You already have, Edward."

I feel his body tense around mine. "Don't say that, Bella."

"Why?" I ask in a monotone voice. "It's true, isn't it? I'm no longer the innocent girl you met last year."

"You are Bella, you are the same girl I married. Like you said before, you acted in self-defense."

I look at him for a moment, allowing the face of the man I love soothe me. "The things I would do for you..." I trail off, unable to say my thoughts aloud. "The things I would do for you Edward, they frighten me. When I saw him, holding a gun to your head, I wanted him dead. I was happy to shoot him because it meant that you would be safe. I would do anything for you."

Edward kisses my forehead and says solemnly, "I would do the same for you Bella. Without a second thought. I just wished that it didn't have to come to this."

"Wouldn't it have had to eventually? If this is the sort of life you lead, did you really think you could keep it from me?"

"I never intended on to keep it from you," he tells me, "I just didn't imagine divulging such information on our honeymoon. I wanted to spend some time with my new wife without having to think about all the baggage I have waiting for me at home."

I want to believe that he had planned on telling me some time, and I can understand his reasoning behind not telling me now. Would I have really wanted to hear it?

"So, you're a criminal?" I ask, unsure of how I feel about the words as they leave my mouth. My husband is a criminal? How could I have missed this?

Edward gives me a dark look and says nothing. I gaze at him, looking for the truth in his eyes. Suddenly, everything from the past year falls into place and makes perfect sense. His dinners that appeared to be business meetings with mysterious strangers, the men who loomed around him that looked just as lethal as they did attractive, and the time he spent away from Chicago to 'take care of things'.

"You're in the mafia." It isn't a question, and by the look on his face I know I'm right.

"I was born into a very powerful family, Bella," he says as if it explains everything. "My father brought me into his business as soon as I turned sixteen. I've never had a normal life."

My heart goes out to him, knowing that he never had a chance to have a childhood is difficult to deal with. Even after the loss of my father, I still had many happy years. I wish I could say the same for my husband. I want to give him the happiness that he has gone so long without.

"Don't feel sorry for me beautiful," he smirks at me, his eyes softening. "I think everyone grows to hate the career they are in. At least this one allows me to provide for you in a way no normal job could."

"Are you really unhappy Edward?"

He looks at me for a long moment, playing with my hair as he says, "Not anymore."

A/N: Awe, a bit of cutest at the end. Thoughts?